Whitley Z6862 at Topcliffe airfield.
On the night of 5th / 6th August 1941 the crew of this 102 Squadron aircraft were to bomb Frankfurt and left base of Topcliffe at around 22.00hrs, prior to arriving over
the target area they were attacked by an enemy fighter in the Maastricht area at 00.50hrs but despite the damage the crew continued to bomb Frankfurt and made
a safe return to Topcliffe at 05.30hrs. The aircraft was soon repaired as it crashed on take off from Topcliffe a couple of weeks later.
Pilot - Sgt R Fisher.
Second Pilot - Sgt Norman George Williams RAFVR (1006119), of Ely, Cardiff.
Observer - Sgt Wilfred Venus Atkinson RAFVR (920450), of South Shields.
? - Sgt E A Hartle.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Leonard Starbuck RAFVR (1325482), of Burton on Trent.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Morley Sidney Humphrey RCAF (R/51666), of Fort William, Ontario, Canada.
Sgt Norman Williams was killed on 21st August 1941 when the same Whitley Z6862 crashed at Topcliffe. He was twenty one years old and is buried in Cardiff's Western Cemetery.
Sgt Wilfred Atkinson was killed on 30th August 1941 when Whitley Z6951 crashed near Docking, Norfolk on return from Ops to Frankfurt. He was twenty
seven years old and is buried in Harton Cemetery, South Shields, Durham.
Sgt Morley Humphrey was killed on 1st September 1941 when Whitley Z6839 failed to return from Ops to Essen, he is buried in Schaffen Communal
Cemetery, Belgium. He was just twenty years old.
Sgt Starbuck was still serving with 102 Squadron on 26th June 1942. On this date he was in Halifax W7654 which was on Ops to Bremen when the
aircraft crashed into the North Sea. Sgt Starbuck's body was the only one to wash ashore and he is buried in Becklingen War Cemetery. He was 26 years old.
Whitley Z6862 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 1st July 1941. It was taken on charge
at Topcliffe by 102 Squadron shortly after this date and was slightly damaged on Ops on 5th / 6th August 1941 as detailed above. It was written off when it
crashed on take off for a training flight on 21st August 1941 with Cat.E2/FA Burnt damage being recorded with less than 15 hours flying to its account.